Meet the Dietitian: Community service series

Chat Leave a comment May 30, 2019 nutritionadsa

An unforgettable community service experience in the ‘forgotten province’…

By Inarie Jacobs

Health should not be taken for granted – a lesson I learned as a child whilst being very ill due to my poor lifestyle and dietary habits. After this experience, I decided to study dietetics at the North-West University of Potchefstroom to share this lesson as far and wide as possible.

I started my community service journey in December 2018 at a small rural hospital in the beautiful Transkei area of the Eastern Cape – a.k.a. “the forgotten province”. The challenges seemed a bit overwhelming at first as I had to trade my luxurious lifestyle habits for much simpler ones. Not only was the hospital an hour away from where I lived but it also never had a dietitian or a dietetic department before. No equipment and no supplements together with a huge language barrier made counseling with patients nearly impossible. To be honest, the tunnel did not seem to have light at the end.

However, after a few weeks of feeling really sorry for myself, I noticed how heavily the burden of wasting, obesity and poverty weighed on this community. The effects of the nutrition transition were clearly visible in this rural area which made me realized how badly nutrition intervention was needed. This led me to change my perspective and strategy towards this year and soon my challenges transformed into endless opportunities.

I get to build and establish a whole new dietetic department to promote our profession – an opportunity few community service dietitians have. I’m forced to improvise and to be more creative with cost-effective tools and methods to educate and treat patients – a skill I would have never developed if things were easy. I’m forced to reach out to the surrounding dietitians for help – a network of professional colleagues I would have otherwise not built.  I’m also trying to learn the beautiful isiXhosa language to interact with patients – a privilege I would have otherwise not had.

In short, comfort does not enhance growth! I’m grateful to be pushed beyond my comfortable limits as it is teaching me more than any book ever will!

I encourage all future and current community service dietitians to rise to the opportunity to lead, to influence and to inspire others with your attitude, deeds, and knowledge. To Quote Anne Frank: “You don’t always know how great you are, how much you can accomplish and what your potential is”. Dare more boldly, walk that extra mile and give it all you have!

A few rural survival tools:

• Breathe…
• Rural is never a textbook case.
• Be culture sensitive and respect different views/religions.
• Get to know local indigenous foods, what traditional foods are and how they are prepared.
• Ask for help as much as possible. You don’t have to know everything, just be willing to learn.
• Know that change doesn’t happen overnight and that some may be very resistant towards it.
• Be kind and treat people with respect, no matter their background, title or position.
• Be gentle and patient with yourself, your progress and setbacks.

 

ABOUT ADSA
ADSA, the Association for Dietetics in South Africa, is one of the country’s professional
organizations for registered dietitians. It is a registered non-profit organization served by qualified volunteers. The Association represents and plays a vital role in developing the dietetic profession so as to contribute towards the goal of achieving optimal nutrition for all South Africans. Through its network of ten branches, ADSA provides dietitians with the opportunity to meet and network with other professionals in their provinces. Through its comprehensive Continuing Professional Development (CPD) system, ADSA supports dietitians in meeting their mandatory on-going learning, which is essential to maintain their registration status with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA). Visit: http://www.adsa.org.za

Success Story: Zandra Sissing

Chat Leave a comment February 8, 2019 nutritionadsa

Having been a runner from a young age, Zandra always thought “I can eat what I like” and just run it off …. until she couldn’t.  She met up with registered dietitian Maryke Gallagher to help her develop better eating habits that would complement her training and recently completed her first ever Half Ironman triathlon. Here is her story:

Why did you decide to see a dietitian? (The Before Story)

At the age of 38 I hurt my knee while running, and three months later had surgery.  I was off exercise for over six months, and during that time I ate: depression from a difficult relationship, depression from not being able to get out there and run, poor eating habits within the household.  My blood sugar and cortisol levels had gotten so disrupted I used to keep a glucose monitor with me.

Fast forward some time and I started training again, but was struggling to shake the weight.  Nothing I did helped, and if I wanted to keep the knee and joints healthy, I needed to do something.  I was referred to Maryke by my coach and that’s when my life changed.

Tell us about your journey with the dietitian

Firstly, I have an unpredictable schedule and she was so accommodating. Most of our communication was Skype, telephonic or whatsapp. Maryke took all this in her stride.

I have always thought I ate correctly, and had tried banting with no great success. Maryke taught me balance, how to realise when I was emotionally eating (and how to fix that).  She taught me how to include that one (or two) glasses of wine a week. Best of all, she taught me how to adapt my meals to meet my ever-changing schedule.  She did not give me an eating plan, she taught me which choices to make to suit MY body.  This sounds strange but even for my pre-run snack we went back and forth on options until I knew BOTH what worked for me and what I liked.

Tell us about your results / successes

My results were the things a runner dreams of: steady and consistent.  From a start of 74 kg I lost 6 kg to reach my goal of 68kgs.  I remember sending her the picture of the scale at 67.9kgs with great excitement.

I stopped looking at the scale but in my head I wondered if I could reach 66kgs, which my run coach had advised would be a good weight for me. It was a month later when I got on the scale and there it was: 66kgs!

I had lost almost 10% of my original weight, and a total of 9% body fat.  All the while enjoying life.

Since then, I have got married, moved home and changed jobs, changed countries and damaged a ligament in my foot. All these things combined have meant I could once again not run for a while.  The best part about having all the skills taught to me by Maryke is that I didn’t pick up the weight again.  I was able to deal with anything and still be healthy and happy.

What was the hardest part of the journey?

Starting out is the hardest part. The first weeks as you are learning and adapting. If you are consistent in the first few weeks, you see results and that really motivated me to keep going.  Think long term and not short term, because you want these results to last.  Changing my mindset to one that includes better carbs and fats.  Learning to remember that I need to eat for my body, and not for what works for someone else.

What are the top three tips you can share?

• Don’t design your eating from what you read on Google/social media/books. A dietitian takes years of study and trains to put this learning into something unique for you.  Different bodies, different solutions.  Do not be caught up thinking you need to do your eating in a “specific way”.
• Make sure you like what you are eating. You should not resent the food but enjoy a meal. Slow down your eating, enjoy the flavours and you will find yourself eating less.
• If you  need that 5pm snack, plan it in.  Many a time the snack suggested by Maryke has prevented a ‘carb’ craving dinner (you know that one where you walk in the door and open the cupboard, ready to consume anything ).  I now carry snacks with me every day to work.

What the dietitian says

I met Zandra for the first time through a Triathlon club meeting and noticed her bubbly and determined personality. A few months later she contacted me to assist her with her diet and weight loss goals – for health reasons and to achieve her training goals. She was motivated and questioning, willing to work through the main areas in her diet and lifestyle that were hindering her to achieve her goals. She was willing to let go of the ‘all or nothing’ approach of certain food groups and foods being ‘bad’ or ‘good’, to eating habits that are best for her personal needs. Seeing her achieve her weight loss goals slowly but surely, and most of all being able to make the necessary changes and develop a healthy relationship with food and her body was very rewarding! Thank you Zandra for choosing me to help you in this journey.

To find a dietitian in your area visit http://www.adsa.org.za